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Whether you are blind, partially sighted, dyslexic or have another disability that makes you unable to read standard print, Calibre Audio Library brings the joy of audio books to everyone.

Calibre was set up over 40 years ago by a mother whose partially sighted son struggled to read the printed word. To solve the problem, she set up an audio library so he could enjoy books just like his friends. Since then, Calibre Audio Library has grown into a national charity that has over 14,000 members across the UK.

Disabled Living has an enviable reputation of organising the very prestigious Kidz to Adultz event since 2001 and now hold five of the largest FREE UK exhibitions totally dedicated to children and young adults up to 25 years with disabilities and additional needs, their parents, carers and all the professionals who support and work with them.

With 165+ exhibitors this free to attend event promises to be a ‘one stop shop’ offering visitors the opportunity to view the most up to date equipment and products including assistive technology. In addition visitors will have access to information on services, benefits and support organisations including information on alternative funding streams for equipment, respite and much more.

Due to popular demand, Playinnovation the innovative games company has launched a brand-new range of indoor and portable mini games which are perfect for the school market.

Schools can now install Playinnovation’s educational games walls as mini games and perfect for use indoors and outdoors. The games can be fitted to your gym or outside wall and feature magnetic numerical targets, moveable ground spots and a portable scoreboard for easy storage.

Entrepreneur Charlie Day started her own business Sounds Right Phonics Classes for Kids in 2016 and has sold the 30th franchise just weeks before her 30th birthday! Along with her sister, Alex Burnside who also lives next door to Charlie, they dreamed up this idea over a glass of wine and joked about how successful it could be. The sisters felt they had the perfect skills to collaborate and launch their own company - Sounds Right Phonics Classes which were fun and educational, so children don’t even realise they are learning. Alex, a primary teacher with early years specialism, and Charlie has business experience.

Why is white chocolate white, but milk chocolate brown? How do your shoes link to the rainforest? What are the stigma, stamen and style? From which plant can both houses and clothing be made? Why do cactus plants look so strange? How do bananas and pineapples grow? What is a tenrec?

At Birmingham Botanical Gardens, discover the answers to these questions and many more, as you explore our 4 spectacular glasshouses and 15 acres of flourishing gardens.

You can experience an authentic rainforest adventure and then, walk straight from experiencing hot and humid tropical conditions, into a desert climate and observe the changes to plants due to the seasons. Then, wander down to the Alpine Yard and Rock Garden to marvel at the beautiful flora found on the tundra.

Helen Boden has years of experience as a specialist teacher and, after working in colleges with young men who struggled with literacy, and helping her two sons with their dyslexia, began working alongside her local dyslexia association. She later became the BDA’s Head of Training, Assessments and Conferences, and entered the role of CEO of the association earlier this year. As part of Dyslexia Awareness Week, Helen explains to Education for Everybody editor Victoria Galligan why there is still the need for more awareness, training and resources to support pupils with dyslexia…

St. John’s School & Sixth Form College in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, is focused on upskilling its staff and has been working with technology-based learning solution provider Rosetta Stone to help its teachers develop and build language skills for the past 14 months. The training forms part of the teacher subject specialism training (TSST) initiative, which aims to improve the knowledge of specialist, non-specialist and returning teachers in a range of subjects. Over one hundred teachers, across six schools in County Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne, seized the opportunity to learn a range of languages including Spanish, French and German, and the number of participants is set to increase in the programme’s coming years.

Shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner, this week announced plans for a Labour government to save cash strapped schools over half a billion pounds a year through a major shake-up of the supply teacher system.

Proposals include the introduction of a new national Substitute Teacher Register as well as plans to examine the feasibility of setting up a state supply agency and whether further regulation of supply teacher fees is needed to put an end to ‘exorbitant and escalating’ costs.

Commenting on the announcement, Baljinder Kuller, who has over 15 years’ experience in education recruitment, and is now Managing Director of online supply teacher portal, The Supply Register, said:

Dyslexia Awareness Week will run from Monday 1 to Sunday 7 October and this year, will focus on 21st century dyslexia. The week, organised by the British Dyslexia Association, will include activities in classrooms, workplaces and online (using the hashtag #21stcenturydyslexia), competitions and much more.

Lord Addington, President of the British Dyslexia Association, said: “With modern support and assistive technology, being dyslexic is a major advantage. We dyslexics are all great problem solvers, can get to the crux of the matter and see the bigger picture, and make the connections to bring together successful projects. I hope our focus on 21st century dyslexia for this year’s Dyslexia Awareness Week will mean more people see dyslexia as the ability it is.”

Thousands of children have returned to school for the new academic year to new-look menus. A range of healthier, more sustainable meat-free menu options have been introduced as part of the new School Plates programme launched by food awareness organisation ProVeg UK earlier this summer.

A total of 110 primary schools across two local authorities in England have been working on new menus in collaboration with ProVeg UK ahead of their launch this term. Changes include the adoption of Meat-Free Mondays, new daily meat-free meals, and new descriptions for the meat-free and plant-based dishes to make them even more appealing to the students.

Over the past academic year, students across the Trust have participated in a variety of British Science Association’s flagship programmes, helping to improve their understanding of, and develop a passion for, STEM subjects.

Organiser of the event and Director of Science for the Trust, Dawn Platt, said: “We believe that learning through investigation and exploring is a key way in which all our students can enjoy, achieve and learn through science.

“As a result we are here to celebrate the unique talents of all our students across all our schools with equal importance.”

Children are taking up new sports this school year which is increasing the price of back to school as parents fork out for sports clothing and equipment, according to new research.

A survey of more than 7,600 UK adults published by Decathlon in the Decathlon Activity Index 2018, shows that parents spend £54 on average on sports clothing and equipment per child, ahead of the new school year.

In fact, 86% of those surveyed said that their keen kids will take up a new sport this year at school.

The research shows how the cost correlates to the amount of sport kids take up, with children picking up three sports on average per school year.

With children across Stockport now back at school for over a week, the chances are that many parents are already dealing with new-term bugs, sniffles and germs.

And even though it is simple advice, one of the easiest ways to reduce the chances of your child and family picking up any germs is for everyone to practice good hand hygiene.

Councillor Tom McGee, Stockport Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, said: “As your children start school for the first time, or return to school, they’ll come into contact with new children, and therefore new germs.

A group of young people were given the opportunity of an exclusive behind the scenes tour at Palace House National Heritage Centre along with a work experience challenge this summer, in partnership with local education charity Inspire Suffolk and national youth charity The Prince’s Trust.

Redway Networks popular “Win Big” competition is back for 2018 and is bigger and better than ever! They have teamed up with Aerohive to bring you their new 802.11ax wireless technology for your education institution. This fantastic 802.11ax wireless solution is worth over £20,000! And will ensure that you are one of the first institutions with this solution, providing the very best in connectivity and mobility for your students.

Elmwood School in Bridgwater has today received a Variety Sunshine Coach donated by award-winning developer Crest Nicholson.

In conjunction with Crest Nicholson’s official charity partner Variety, a children’s charity that carries out vital work to support and improve the lives of young people across the UK, the donation will see a specially-adapted Sunshine Coach replace the Elmwood School’s old minibus.

Half of people wish they could take up their favorite hobby as a full time job, according to new research.

A survey of 1,000 people, carried out by Europe’s number one sports retailer, Decathlon, found that 50% of workers would like to turn their hobby into a career, with 23% more passionate about their hobby than their current profession.

The majority of people (30%) would want to turn their passion of caring for animals or children into a paying career. Sports is another popular choice with 27% wanting to pursue a career in an outdoor pursuit like camping, 25% a team sport like football, cricket or rugby and 24% an individual sport like tennis, golf, cycling or swimming.

A new wellbeing subscription service is launched this week which aims to tackle the biggest issue facing education today – mental health. Dubbed ‘Netflix for wellbeing’, Brilliant Schools is a wellbeing club that enables schools to ‘subscribe to happiness’ by providing tools and resources to help boost the wellbeing of pupils, teachers and parents, all through a simple, not-for-profit subscription.

The mental health crisis in our schools is well documented. UK teenagers rank next to bottom in international measures of wellbeing, while a recent report by the Children’s Society revealed that a shocking 1 in 4 14-year-old girls admits to self-harming to cope with the pressures of modern life.

Children and young people with strong online access do better at school than those with a poor internet connection, research suggests.

Findings from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) revealed a 25% increase in GCSE grades among students with regular internet access, while Learning Foundation research estimated that a million children in the UK with poor internet connection are expected to score a grade lower on their exam results than peers with a better connection.

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